Three-Year-Old Boy Dies After Shooting Himself With His Cop Dad’s Gun. So Devastating.

The worst part is the father of the child answered his wife’s 911 call, reporting the heartbreaking incident.

Daniel Metz, 3, died in the hospital on Tuesday, July 19, after he accidentally shot himself in his Maryland Heights, Missouri home, where he found his policeman father Ryan‘s gun in a bedroom. Ryan’s wife Amanda was home when she heard the gun shot and ran to the back room, finding Daniel. She then dialed 911 and Ryan responded to the emergency call. Is this your worst nightmare?

Ryan was one of the first officers to the scene and watched on as colleagues tried desperately to resuscitate his son. Daniel died in DePaul hospital at 6:05 pm, half an hour after the shooting.

Police chief Thomas O’Connor says the gun was not Ryan’s personal firearm, and had not been issued by the department. “It’s a terrible thing. It’s pretty much a shock,” chief O’Connor tells Fox 12. “I’ve been a police officer 29 years and I never brought a loaded gun into my home while my kids were there for this very reason. The gun should have been unavailable, locked up or something else, for a toddler to find.”

The chief adds that Ryan and Amanda, who have two other children, are absolutely devastated and are being given some space before the investigation begins. No one knows how or where Daniel found the gun in the bedroom. Our hearts go out to everyone involved.